A Visit From a Little Someone Called Death
by Ace5980
Summary: What would have happened if Light didn't kill L? What would have happened if Near, Mello and Matt could all get along? Let's find out! LightxL, MattxMello, NearxOC
1. P:Threatening Confession

Ace: Hello, and welcome to another one of my crazy adventures!

L: Save us!

Light: PLEASE!!!!!

Ace: Pay no attention to the two screaming morons in the background.

L: SHE'S MAKING US WATCH DEATH NOTE!!!

Ace: Um, didn't you two ask me to put it on?

Light: Maybe...

Ace: *sigh. Well, only one thing left to do. I do NOT own Death Note. I wish I did though.

* * *

Prologue: Threatening Confession

L sat forlornly in front of his monitors, unsure what to do now, now that his suspects were proved innocent. The very evidence under his nose, the Death Note, stated that using it outside of 13 days would kill you, proving Light Yagami and Misa Amane couldn't have possibly been Kira and the Second Kira respectively. But something seemed off about this, almost as though it was a ruse, one that, unfortunately, the other Kira investigators refused to let him test.

Misa had already left. She'd even had time to return briefly to rescue a small teddy bear she'd forgotten from Light and leave again. Now the teen sat, watching L's every movement with a flicker of his eyes, as he seemed to muse on the murder notebook. There were many words L could use to describe Light's face now, when he thought no one was looking at him. Smug, arrogant, triumphant, plotting. All good adjectives to currently describe him. Ever since he had touched the notebook, he'd changed from cute, innocent teen to dangerous predator, watching his next victim in anticipation of its death throes.

There was no use delaying fate any longer. "I think it would be appropriate for everyone to go home and take a break for the night. We have evidence and a witness of-sorts that will both still be here in the morning." L's words were greeted with relieved approval from everyone save one. Light.

"Ryusaki, I think I should stay here for the moment, seeing as I am a former suspect and all."

"I thought Light-kun would appreciate his freedom more and wish to spend time with his family, not relinquish it," L murmured, nibbling on the nail of his thumb. Light merely shook his head, remaining adamant about his decision. "Very well. If you wish to remain, Light-kun, you may."

"Thank you Ryusaki."

L wondered if _this_ line of questioning would work on the shinigami; it would not hurt to try. "Shinigami, have you ever seen Light-kun before the events that led to our apprehension of your notebook?"

She shrugged. "I do not know for certain. We shinigami spend our time gambling away our stolen life-force or looking down on the human world. We see so many names, faces, and lifespans; we'd be hard pressed to remember one person in particular compared to all the others."

L nodded. That was an awkward dodge by the shinigami there, one that said she knew something important but wasn't so good at hiding it. "So you have seen Light-kun before?"

"Perhaps. I cannot recall ever seeing him from the shinigami realm, but that doesn't mean I haven't."

"Interesting. That will be all, shinigami."

Light seemed slightly amused at the fact all L's questions were about him, but his mask was of outraged disbelief. "L, please tell me you are not still on that obscene theory that I'm Kira. The Death Note clearly states-"

"It does not matter what the notebook may or may not say, Light-kun, as I no longer trust the words written on its back cover."

"L, you're being-"

"Shinigami, are the rules written on the back cover of this notebook true?"

She shrugged again. "I have never felt the need to test them, nor has any other shinigami."

"You see, Light-kun?"

"The only thing you've managed to prove, Ryusaki, is that the shinigami have a rather lacking initiative to bend the rules, nothing more."

"They are fake rules, Light-kun, and I'd bet my life on it!"

"Would you now?" he asked, coming over to L with an arrogant smirk finding its way unknowingly across his features. "And what would you do if I told you that could easily be arranged?"

L's eyes widened. "Check and mate, Kira-kun," he murmured quietly, dropping his head to eye the floor. "I win."

"Not quite, L Lawliet," Light growled, the mask dropping away now that he'd been found out. "I can kill you, and everyone else in the Task Force, where they stand, and don't think I don't have the guts to do it because I do." L's eyes had a spark of fear in them now. He was not afraid for his own life but for the others hanging over his head and in Light's unstable hands. "But I won't kill them if you do exactly as I say..."

* * *

Ace: BAD BOY LIGHT! *slap

Light: OW!!!

L: Oh dear. It looks like Ace-kun may have gone a little psycho. Well, I guess that we'll just have to leave the story here for today... unless lots of people send reviews/PMs/favorite/alert/whatever to this so that she'll put up another one this weekend.

Light: PLEASE DON'T! IT'S NOT WORTH IT!!!

Ace: LIGHT, STOP TRYING TO INFLUENCE THE MINDS OF THE LOYAL FANS! *slap and leave

L and Light: Where are you going?

Ace: To get the chainsaw.

L: Oh dear.

Light: *bleeped out due to the sheer number of cuss words DON'T KILL ME!!!!!

L: Well, um, I've got to go make sure she doesn't get Kira's blood on my cake, so yeah, bye!!!!


	2. Ch1:Retied and Rebound

Ace: Well, here you go, you lucky little ducks. I got to listen to a lecture about being on my computer at the crack of dawn, but here you go anyway.

Light: I think you deserved it, you little-

L: Kira-kun...

Ace: WHAT WERE YOU ABOUT TO CALL ME, YOU LITTLE MAN-HO!

Light: OH, IT IS ON, CRAZY WRITER CHIC!

L: Well, since Light-kun and Ace-chan seem far too busy beating each other into a pulp, I guess I'll have to do this for her-

Light: ACE DOES NOT OWN DEATH NOTE!!!!!!!!

Ace: *gasp THAT WAS BELOW THE BELT, PRETTY-BOY! *slap

* * *

Chapter One: Retied and Rebound

"L, are you really so certain the chain is once again necessary?" Watari asked upon seeing the pair chained together again.

"Yes, Watari." L wanted to elaborate but chose not to, unwilling to put the man in any further risk from the teenage mass-murderer attached to him.

The older man looked at his younger charge oddly. 'Very well. Shall I resume the camera and bug work as well?"

"No, Watari. The chain alone will be fine." The detective went to his room, Light following, and morosely stood by the bed.

"Aw, L," Light said, wrapping an arm around L's waist from his seat on the edge of the bed, "Am I really that much of a problem to you?"

"Kira-kun, you have threatened my person, placed a similar threat over my friends and co-workers, and made the ridiculous requests to stay at my side and not be revealed for the criminal you are. So yes, I would conclude that you _are_ that much of a problem."

"Brighten up, L. Ever since you said you wanted to work the case alone with me and Watari you've just seemed so angry."

"I am being forced into doing all of this. Would you not be upset if your free will had been taken from you in the manner mine has been taken from me?"

"I have apologized. Several times already."

"Just because you have said the words does not mean you meant them, any more does my acceptance of them mean you are forgiven."

"Ouch," the teen chuckled. "But I guess I deserved that."

"Yes, you did."

Light absently played with the length of chain, winding it around his fingers and shaking himself free, only to do it again. "I really am sorry, L. I just knew no other way would get you to stop and listen to me otherwise. I never meant for you to feel like I had taken your freedom."

"How could you expect anything else, Kira-kun? We are both proud people, and while I can put mine aside when I must, you must agree this is very demeaning for both me and you yourself."

"I don't mind it so much. I bore this all once. I can do the chain thing again. It's nothing compared to how it felt to be confined as Kira when I thought I wasn't." Light's arm unwrapped itself to allow him to put a hand to his face. L didn't say anything, but he did sit down beside Light, for once in a normal position instead of his crouch.

"I'm sorry too, Ki- Light-kun. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Are you kidding?" Light asked, throwing himself backwards to land loudly on the mattress underneath the two. "I forgave you the instant you first fastened these handcuffs around our wrists."

"...Does that mean the shinigami will follow me around too?"

"Not exactly. They follow the person who is the current owner of their Death Note, so Rem will only be following me around, not you, and she can keep her distance as long as she makes contact every now and again, so she won't really be a problem, Light was quiet for a moment, contemplating. "Plus, I plan on killer her soon, so she won't be around for all too much longer."

"Light-"

"Oh relax, L. the world's better off without another shinigami in the long run anyway."

"It would also be better off without you."

Light's face twisted for a moment before he composed himself once more, using the mask he had hidden behind so often. "I guess that might be true if you look at it from the killing-people perspective, but could you please try looking at things from my perspective?"

"I'll give it my best shot." L agreed warily, knowing Light was about to launch into his very first, but not likely to be his last, Kira speech; this would not end well.

"Kira works similarly to the way the Mafia does on protection rackets, only on a much larger scale and without the extortion. By simply existing, Kira poses a threat to all criminals other than himself and those who agree with his message. He provides a huge deterrent against illegal activity, reducing crime around the world!"

"I'm not disagreeing with _those_ results, Light-kun, just with the small matter of taking someone else's life."

"Therein lies your problem," Light murmured, using L's waist to pull himself upright. "But don't worry," he said with a smirk, "we'll soon fix that."

* * *

Ace: AND ONCE AGAIN, I SAY BAD BOY LIGHT! *slap

Light: OW! WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND SLAPPING ME?!?

Ace: *grin It's fun.

L: Really? Let me try! *slap

Light: Ow! Cut that out!

Ace: REMEMBER, ALL THAT REVIEW ARE ALLOWED TO ABUSE LIGHT!

Light: Yeah! Wait, what?

L: COMMENCE THE SLAPPING OF KIRA-KUN!!!

Light: *screams like a little girl and runs away


	3. Ch2:A Change of Perspective

Ace: I'M SO PROUD OF EVERYONE FOR HELPING ME SLAP THE PRETTY-BOY!! *sniffle

Light: *rubs face I'm not.

L: TOO BAD, KIRA-KUN!!! *slap

Light: AHHH!!!! YOU GOT L INTO THIS TOO?!?!

Ace: *evil grin It was easy. L would do anything for cake.

L: Yum. Cake.

Light: You, miss, are the incarnation of pure evil. If I knew your real name, you'd be dead right now. If you actually did own Death Note, which you don't, the world would likely explode.

Ace: Probably. *slaps Light and gives L a piece of cake

* * *

Chapter Two: A Change of Perspective

"Cross?" A redhead with orange goggles poked his head into the curtained room, dark with sadness. He got no response from the girl sitting on the wood floor inside. Sighing heavily, he came in and gently touched her arm. Her purple eyes slowly turned to regard him. "You can't stay in here forever, Cross."

She shook her head, turning to continue her far-off stare. "A wouldn't have wanted you to mourn her forever. It wasn't even your fault."

The girl whimpered, eyes closed as they began swimming with tears. She didn't want to talk about this. Not here. Not now. Why couldn't Matt understand this? Why must he torture her, and her honoring of A's memory, in this way?

"Matt?" a blond called, leaning against the door. "Come on, Matt. Cross just needs some time alone."

* * *

The pair were walking through their home, the gamer anxiously looking over his shoulder every now and again. "Mello, I'm worried about Cross. She just seems to get ever worse as the years go by."

"Matt, I don't think she'll ever really be okay, the blond murmured, glancing back over his own shoulder now. "Her three best friends ended up committing suicide, running away, and being declared a psychopathic serial killer. She still blames herself for her friends' actions."

"Can't we at least try to help her, Mells?" the redhead pleaded, grabbing his friend's arm.

"We can't help her if she doesn't want it, Matty," he whispered, his face turned away from his friend. "Only time can really help her now."

"It just breaks my heart to see her like that, Mells. She used to be so strong, but now the slightest thing sets her off."

"I know, Matty. I know." The blond wrapped his arms around the now-crying gamer. Neither of them noticed the small white-haired child get up from his position along the side of the hallway. He stared in the direction the other two had come from, twirling a lock of hair around his finger as he contemplated his next action. His gray eyes, seemingly emotionless, darted back to the other two, and he made a decision. Sighing, he turned and walked in the opposite direction; it was obvious from the conversation he'd overheard that Cross was worse this time, likely beyond whatever help he, or almost anyone else, could offer.

There were, however, three people she might listen to. Beyond, a serial killer who'd gone into hiding after L had tempted him out and betrayed his trust. Destiny, who had run away shortly after B had left for reasons unknown to any save the boy declared a "clinical vampire". And maybe, just maybe, she might listen to L himself...

* * *

Playing with his cake, L was trying his hardest to ignore Light while he flitted around the room. The only acknowledgment the genius would make of his chain-mate was to occasionally lift his arm so the chain wouldn't get caught on something. Finally, Light seemed to notice L's preoccupation and walked over to the genius, casually draping an arm over his shoulder. "Is something wrong, L?"

L's answering glare could have refroze the glaciers and reversed global warming. "You mean something _besides_ all this touching?"

Light laughed but didn't remove the offending arm from L. "Yes, besides that. You've seemed so tense and cold since you checked your e-mails this morning."

"It's nothing, Kira-kun."

"That tells me something's wrong, L. You only use 'Kira-kun' when you're upset with something."

"I am not upset with anything other than your ridiculous antics, Kira-kun."

"You can tell me anything, L," Light murmured, lowering his head and hiding his honey-golden eyes under his light brown hair. "You know that."

L sighed. "When I was younger, at my last orphanage, there was a girl roughly eight years younger than myself who took to tagging along with me and my friends. What happened to my three friends was... not pleasant. Once became a serial killer. Another ran away, a disturbing even since he was diagnosed with clinical vampirism. The last committed suicide."

"So?"

"Apparently the girl holds herself responsible and is another suicide risk now."

* * *

Ace: And, as usual, BAD BOY LIGHT! SHOW SOME COMPASSION AND UNDERSTANDING! *slap

Light: OW!

L: Yeah, Kira-kun, show some compassion and understanding.

Light: *pout I do show compassion and understanding, just not to complete strangers.

Ace: So if L or I was a suicide risk, you'd care?

Light: L, yes. You, not so much.

Ace: THAT'S IT, PRETTY-BOY, YOU'RE IN FOR THE SLAPPING OF A LIFETIME! *commences with promised slapping of a lifetime

L: Well, in order to help Ace-chan, I will say that everyone who reviews is allowed to contribute to Kira-kun's slapping of a lifetime. And with that, ATTACK OF THE OVERLY-FROSTING-ED CAKE!!!! *throws frosting at Light

Light: THERE WASN'T ANY CAKE IN THAT!

L: Yes there was, Light-kun. A crumb of chocolate cake was in the center of that.

Ace: YEAH, LIGHT, YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT BY NOW!!! *slaps Light again UNTIL NEXT WEEK, LITTLE READERS!!!!!


	4. Ch3:Unexpected Savior

Ace: Well, Light, have you decided to be good?

Light: *whimper Yes, o great powerful Ace.

Ace: You know what, I'm beginning to like this kid!

L: I'm not.

Light: I got you cake...

L: I love you forever and ever, Light-kun!

Ace: I do not own Death Note. *sigh

L: Aw, it's okay, Ace-kun.

Light: We still love you.

Ace: *sniff Thanks guys. *group hug

* * *

Chapter Three: Unexpected Savior

"Yay! Field trip! Field trip!" Light was bouncing up and down like a hyperactive puppy.

L was quick to shoot that puppy. "We are _not_ going to be leaving Japan."

Light's face slipped into a pout as he sat morosely on the bed. "Why?" he asked in a voice that sounded like he was dying.

"I don't trust you around small children, especially when said small children are my heirs and ready to take the Kira case should you choose to kill me off."

"L Lawliet, I am mortified that you are so quick to think the very worst of me when I have not even the slightest wish to kill you or your heirs."

"Only because we are currently not a threat to you, Light-kun."

Light bit his lip to keep his next handful of words from escaping his mouth. He couldn't tell L the truth about this; the detective simply wouldn't believe him anyway. He compromised. "What if I promise not to use the Death Note while we're gone? Would that reassure you of the safety aspects?"

"Why can't you just leave the Death Note behind, Light-kun?"

"Because you could easily have me apprehended while I was defenseless without it."

"I gave you my word, Light-kun, that I would not unmask you as Kira, and I intend to keep it." L's eyes softened slightly then, and he gently laid a hand on Light's arm. "Besides, you're starting to grow on me again, Light-kun."

A small smile stole over Light's face, one of the few ones he'd had for completely innocent and non-Death-Note related reasons since he'd picked up the notebook. "Okay then L. I'll play this your way. No murder notebooks. No shinigami. No Kira."

L threw a strange questioning glance to Light. Why was the mass murderer who seemed to want to control L's every action suddenly seem perfectly content to let L make all the decisions now? Light knelt by the bed and somehow squirmed his entire torso underneath it. After a moment, a voice hesitantly and pitifully broke the silence. "Um, L, I think I'm stuck."

"Is Light-kun certain he cannot extract himself without my assistance?"

"Yes." Light's voice sounded so pathetic, L couldn't help his next actions. The detective leaned over, grabbed Light's leg, and carefully pulled him out from under the bed.

"Oh look," he murmured, "I think I found the monster under our bed."

Light's face could have easily scared off any such monsters. "Here," he said, offering L the black notebook he clutched to his chest.

"What is it, Light-kun."

"My Death Note. We can take the trip now, right?"

"...I guess, Light-kun." L surprised himself there. He'd meant to say _I guess you left me no choice, Kira-kun_, but somehow, he couldn't bring himself to hurt Light in that way, not when Light was starting to trust him again.

L had been very secretive about their destination, refusing to tell Light anything other than the name of the place, Whammy's Orphanage, and that it was in England, but Light didn't mind. Now, they were walking along a darkening street with relaxing oaks alongside, the chain hidden in Light-s jacket sleeve and L's shirt sleeve at L's request. "No need to frighten the other children," he'd said.

Four figures stood by the gate. The two smaller ones hid in the shadows while th other two stood in the center, one hiding behind the other. And then there were suddenly three kids by the gate and one child shamelessly attached to L, a leech on his waist. "L!" he cried, squeezing the detective, "Near promised you'd come!"

"Of course I would, Mello. Now, if you would be so kind as to release your choke hold around my diaphragm, I would like to see young Cross."

"Mello!" The redhead showed up then, gently prying the black hugging thing on L. Light could finally see them both, and he found them rather strange. The blond boy almost looked like a girl with his long hair and feminine figure. The redhead seemed okay enough with his wild hair and striped shirt, but the orange goggles covering his eyes _were_ strange. "Come on, let's go get chocolate."

A white-haired boy in pajamas led forward a brown-haired girl in a green shirt and jeans. Her purple eyes widened when she saw Light, and she held out her hand to him. "Hello," she murmured shyly. "My name is Cross Tolly. Who are you?"

* * *

Ace: Good boy, Light. You do have a heart! *obnoxiously tight hug

Light: Choking!!!! Air!!!! NEED AIR!!!!

L:*sitting on chair watching interactions while eating cake Review...

Light: *breaks away FREEDOM!!!!!!

Ace: And with that saddening word, INTO THE CLOSET WITH YOU!!! *shoves boys into closet and leaves


	5. Ch4:The God and the Girl

Ace: Okay boys, ready to come out of the closet?

Light: Do we have to? It's nice and private in here.

Ace: *scowls and opens door then screams and runs away

L: That was easy.

Light: And we taught her who really owns Death Note, which is not her. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

* * *

Chapter Four: The God and the Girl

No one had even thought the girl might take the slightest interest in Light. "I'm Light," he said, "Light Yagami."

"You're Japanese, correct?" she asked, eyes glittering strangely.

"How did you-"

"The accent gave you away." She shrugged. "Along with the jingle of the chain under your clothes, L."

"Incredible," L breathed, his black eyes wide. Cross reached out and gently pulled out the cold metal chain. "Why is it that you're only fourth?"

"You know I don't care about rankings, L."

"Still, you could easily be higher with those kind of deductions-"

"L, for the last time, I DON'T EFFING CARE ABOUT BEING YOU ANYMORE!" Cross's hands were clenched and tears streamed from her lavender eyes.

"Cross," Light murmured, reaching for her, but she shook his hand away without meeting his compassionate honey-golden eyes.

"Goodbye. It was nice meeting you, Light." She stalked away, looking like the loneliest thing any of them had ever seen, all because of her sadness and grief. The white-haired boy stared at her back for a long moment before starting after her.

"Where are you going, Near?" the redhead asked as the blond, _Mello_ Light thought, looked on with slitted eyes.

"I don't know, Matt. Wherever Cross is going, I guess."

An hour later, L took an unexplained detour up to the roof. To Light's surprise, they found the little pale boy, Near, scattering bird feed a short distance away from himself while he kept an eye on Cross gently hand-feeding a jet-black raven. L settled down by Near, tossing his own handful of seeds and leaving Light to his own devices.

"Can anyone feed the raven, or just you, Cross?"

She looked at Light, her head cocked as the bird daintily took a sunflower seed from her palm. "Evermore here is... particular. He decides who feeds him. Although," she continued with a glint in her eye, "he is rather partial to sunflower seeds over normal birdseed as I discovered."

"May I?"

"Of course," she said, indicating the little bag full of black seeds. Light offered a handful to the bird, but it ignored him in favor of the girl.

"I guess he isn't all that fond of me, just like everyone else."

"Don't feel bad, Light. I, for one, like you. Anyway, Evermore here wouldn't take food from me for _years_, so it's not the end of the world that he didn't take anything from you."

"How did you feed him then?" Light asked, curious.

"I didn't feed him. Beyond, Destiny, and Alice did."

"Who are Beyond, Destiny, and Alice?"

Cross sighed heavily. "My best friends."

Light dropped the subject, recognizing it to be a tender one for the girl, judging from Near's reaction. He'd looked up when they started talking about it, and it was obvious to Light that Near was very protective of Cross; the murderer even wondered if Near had a crush on her. It wouldn't be an all too unlikely reason for his actions.

Thinking about love being an honest reason for crazy things brought Light's attention around to L. "Cross, I think L hates me."

"Why? The two of you certainly seem close, 'hence the chain and handcuffs." Cross wouldn't meet Light's gaze with her own, likely because she didn't want him to see her crying. Odd. Everyone knew she was fragile and sad; she didn't do a very good job of hiding it.

"This is more of a matter of guilty-until-proven-innocent than a familiarity thing."

"I know who you are," she murmured, freezing stock-still.

Light laughed uneasily. "Of course you do. I told you my name when we first me."

"No. You told me your given name, your true name. But just as I have an alias, so do you. You're Kira, the god of the new world."

* * *

Ace: *comes back with chainsaw and evil smile on face

Light: *takes one look at Ace, screams, and runs away

L: Wow. She's really pissed this time. So glad it wasn't my idea to torture Ace-chan like that.... *shudder

Light: HELP, SHE'S A CRAZY PSYCHO MURDERER!

Ace: GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE (beeped out for sheer number of curse words)

L: For those of you who would like to know what Light-kun could have possibly done to make Ace-chan so upset, please click the little button down there that says review and request it of her. If not, then please enjoy the resulting images of a girl chasing around a mass-murderer with various household appliances with the intent of killing him!


	6. Ch5:A Web of Promises and Lies

L: Ace-chan, I think you have abused Light-kun enough for a good long while.

Ace: Okay! *gets up off Light

Light: Never again *twitch twitch

Ace: YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT SISSY KIRA! NOTEBOOKS ARE THE PANSY WAY TO KILL PEOPLE!

Light: *whimper Is not.

L: Ace-chan does not own Death Note...

* * *

Chapter Five: A Web of Promises and Lies

The tense silence surrounding the two older men and the young girl was practically a stand-off of the worst kind. L and Light's eyes skewered Cross, begging her to lie and take back what she had said. However, she was not the first to move.

Near was. "Cross! You shouldn't accuse people of doing things without just cause!"

Her eyes flashed to his, violet meeting silver. "You're right, Near. I'm sorry for the abrupt accusation, Light."

Both of the men on the chain noticed she wasn't taking back her words, only the way they'd come out. "Apology accepted, Cross. No harm done."

Near gently placed a hand on the girl's arm. "Come on, Cross. Time for bed." He reached for her as the detective and mass murderer went back into the building, no doubt straight into a Mello ambush, but she shied away from his reaching hand.

"Sorry, Near," she murmured to the hurt look on his face, "but there's something I have to do first."

"Cross-"

"I'll see you later, okay?" Without another word, she dropped off the roof and into the night.

* * *

Later, after Mello and Matt were chewed out by Light for stalking L, the pair saw someone who looked suspiciously like Cross leading an older man. "Cross?" they yelled, and she instinctively turned to regard them with fear in her lavender eyes.

"Teresa, who are these two pretty lovebirds?" her companion, a graying man, asked.

"It's okay, Dad. They're my friends. I told you about them before, remember? They're Mello and Matt."

The man frowned. "I thought you said Mello was a boy."

"I did, Dad."

"But Teresa, the blond's a girl, silly." The man seemed unaware of Mello's anger being held in check only by Matt. Cross patted his arm.

"Daddy, I'm not... joking when I say Mells doesn't like being called a girl. He may seem very gender-confused and cross-dress, but he isn't a girl because he doesn't have boobs... that I know of, anyway."

"Okay, Teresa. I believe you, honey." He smiled at the girl, who hesitantly smiled back. "It was nice meeting some of Teresa's friends. She just has so many..."

"Come on, Dad. Let's get you home," she muttered, eying the teens carefully and mouthing _I'll talk to you later._ They nodded as she led away the strangely broken and incorrectly healed man known as her father.

* * *

L found the sight of Light sprawled across their bed with his eyes closed rather amusing. "Did Mello-kun really tire you out that much, Light-kun?"

"That kid," Light panted, eyes still closed, "is a nightmare. Those four make me fear for my life, the sheep most of all!"

"Cross-kun seemed rather fond of you."

"I guess. She really reminds me of you, to be honest."

"Are you insinuating I might be suicidal and depressed, Light-kun?"

Light frowned, finally opening his eyes to glare exasperatedly at the ceiling. "No. her intelligence is just... startling, like yours. I mean, she figured out I was Kira simply by observing the pair of us interacting with her and the others."

"Well, the chain does make it rather easy to reach that particular conclusion, Light-kun. It's no secret among the children that I took the Kira case, so it isn't all too much of a stretch for her, who spent so much time with me in my youth, to imagine me chaining myself to a potential suspect if I deemed it necessary."

"I- I wish- never mind, it's stupid. Just forget I said anything."

"Light-kun, at this point, there is little you could possibly say to upset me. Of those things, only a select few would make me think any less of you. You beat me, Light-kun, Kira-kun, and you thus have my utmost respect."

"L, would you believe me if I..." Light trailed off, fixing his gaze on L's expectant face as an expected feeling of shyness came over him and crippled his normally witty, eloquent tongue.

"Kira-kun, simply spit it out and be done with it!" L's face was absolutely frustrated, frightening Light into shutting his eyes and closing his mouth. L eyed Light for a moment before putting a hand on Light's unbound wrist. "I'm sorry, Light-kun. Please continue."

"I sometimes wish I wasn't Kira."

* * *

Ace: Okay, so you went from God to a pants-wetting, indecisivie loser? When did this happen?

Light: After I did (bleeped out for those who chose not to know)

Ace: Oh yeah. Hey, L, what are you doing?

L: Stealing your cake. Oh, and by the way, you're out of cookies.

Ace: Yeah, I kinda stole them for reviewers...

Light: Phew. Now L can't eat them...

L: *sniffle


End file.
